One Little Deer
by Dodectron
Summary: Went out one day- over the hills and far away.


**The tale of a Deerling, far from home. Her story begins in what we call Unova, but what would a Pokemon know of human conquests?**

**Rated K+, as there will be injuries and whatnot later on.**

My family came from a land much further than the popular Kanto and Johto regions- as humans call them. Our home was a great forest, never-ending to a foal like myself. Food was a-plenty, and our numbers were enough to frighten off even the great purple cats that stalked our herds. My people were protective of their sick and wounded, starving the hunters from us and keeping the home forest safe for all plant-feasters.

I am considered a rarity in most places outside of 'Unova', my homeland. My kind does not spread over the mountains, nor over the oceans- we enjoy our freedom in deep forest, the youngest playing without fear and the elderly teaching their great wisdom to the fiery and headstrong juveniles. Humans had names for us, and we were all classed as two categories of creature rather than a single species that grew into another. Deerling and Sawsbuck, the younger and the elder.

Unfortunately, the lack of killers encouraged young humans to attempt to steal the youngest of us- the ones with most potential, our newest generations. Eventually the Sawsbuck (I shall name them such in order to prevent confusion from my human audience) were forced to intervene, threatening the humans away with their great antlers until our numbers grew once more. I was shocked myself, to learn that the humans often hunted entire species of wild creatures to near-extinction. We never found out what happened to our lost generation, though I was to discover their fate myself.

My father was the Great Sawsbuck- the leader, the father of most Deerling. Other boys had to leave the herd if they wished to father children, as rights to fatherhood were reserved for only the fittest and best. That was a tradition that still played its part in our lives, though we had rid ourselves of the more self-defeating traits that other herds continued to endure. My father didn't pay attention to me, as I was a girl- young boy Deerling were given lessons by him on how to find herbs for pained stomach, and how to defend oneself from ranging humans. We girls merely frolicked and played, unaware of the dangerously flabby muscles that were our only defence against kidnap.

My mother was the drabbest of the herd, almost always a dusty brown, even in the Springdays. I was lucky enough to get my father's traits, though my more powerfully-structured body and thick, rough fur did nothing to attract friends or potential mates. The flower on my head often wilted if I did not run about fast enough, as if it was drinking in the exercise and joy of bounding alongside my foalmates. I spent my earliest days on all four hooves, trying to keep step with my elder brothers and sisters (occasionally we numbered in the twenties- my father enjoyed his role within the family.)

A peculiar fact about all wild creatures (aside from some of the non-powered freaks that we Deerling and Sawsbucks rejected) was that we were laid in eggs and hatched into the world. I hear that in some places, this does not happen- that creatures called 'Deer' and 'Elk' are born, writhing and gasping in air like a firebreather in water. My mother sneered at these tales, and I follow suit.

The day I hatched was my first memory of the world, and the touch of warmth on my cheek was more tantalising than the gentle love of my sweet mother.

I woke up. It's the simplest way I can explain it. I know from the elders that all are living within the egg before hatch, and I simply seemed to wake up from the sleep of beginning. I timidly stretched out a small foot and dragged it down the side of a hard wall that curved deep below me. I grew frightened as I realized that I was trapped inside- I was within a cage from which I had no means of escape. I opened my mouth and bawled instinctively, but the sound was deafening- I silenced myself quickly, the sound no more than a peep to those outside. With my childlike brain, I quickly forgot my fear and bawled a second time, now an experiment with my new voice. It hurt my head, so I stopped again. I felt thuds through the floor of my egg, so I tried to push the prison walls. My hooves slipped on the shell, but as I slipped through the viscous goo, my head fell upon the shell with great force.

To my surprise, the manoeuvre broke the wall with a great crack of light in my lightless prison. I hadn't known until now that I could see. I found that sight was hurting, so I closed my eyes and struggled blindly at the light, kicking and ramming it with all of my puny strength.

The walls gave way with such noise that I tucked my ears against my head and curled into a ball, whining piteously. I fell onto a painfully hard surface, losing the liquid in my chest as I did so, inhaling my first breath of air. It dried my throat and chest, making my cries raspy and needing. Something amazingly soft compared to my prison and the ground touched my head, pushing me lightly as if urging me to climb up. I stopped sobbing for a moment, head pointed at the soft thing. I felt the enormous urge to open my eyes, so that is what I did.

Everything was soft and blurred, like in a dream. My mother's greyish-brown muzzle was just before my eyes, and I was so shocked at the sight of her! So very tall, I didn't understand how she did not pierce the very sky and have it crash down!

She affectionately nuzzled my face, lingering over the pale pink flower that was unfurling in the crisp air. "You are one of us. You will always have a family," she murmured to me softly. Though I didn't understand the words, I felt warmth creeping through me; my birthright. I forced my head up from the ground and stretched my legs. I am a Deerling, a 'Pokemon'. I know not of 'levels' or 'trainers', but I do understand the dangers of humankind.


End file.
